Jason Richards grabs provisional Bathurst pole

Flying Kiwi Jason Richards on top at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000.

Kiwi flyer Jason Richards has had one dress rehearsal, now he is ready for the main act after emerging as the dark horse at the Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000 for the second year running.

The New Zealand born 33-year-old took provisional pole position for the big Sunday race with his co-driver Cam McConville, needing tomorrow to nail a top-ten shootout lap to finish the same job he started 12 months ago at the same place.

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With the weight of huge expectation on his shoulders last year Richards wavered slightly in the race for pole position. He still managed sixth on the grid and an incredible second in the race, vowing to go one better on Sunday.

"To be honest it was really the first time I'd felt so much pressure," Richards said of this time last year when he teamed up with Murphy in an all-Kiwi outfit. "The weight of expectation was through the roof. I was tense in the car the whole way around which is not the way I like to be. This time will be different."

Nelson-born Richards produced a terrific qualifying lap today along with some luck. Race favourites Lowndes (Jamie Whincup) and Tander (Will Davison) both were on target to beat the time but for unforeseen obstacles in their way.

First it was Lowndes who was within sight of the finish line when a red flag dropped to end the session and Tander was also on a flyer before being slightly held up by a second Ford Performance Racing car driven by Dean Canto.

"We saved everything we had for the end of qualifying and were looking at a top three times at least but the red flag ended that," explained Lowndes. "On a positive note, we know the car has the goods and our tyres are in good shape.

"We still have a couple of spots to work on across the top of the mountain but I am very pleased with where we are at this stage of the event. I'm looking forward to the shootout tomorrow where I feel we can put together a very good flying lap."

But both still sit firmly in the Top Ten for a one-lap shot again tomorrow.

"We didn't want to peak too early, we'll get there in the end," Tander said.

Richards and McConville certainly have a great car to work with and one that can match it with the more fancied TeamVodafone and Toll Holden Racing Team units.

"It's a big tick so far but realistically we are still only 25 per cent of the job done," McConville said.

Equally fast is the Garry Rogers Motorsport pair of Holdsworth and Caruso. The pair, both recent race winners and possessing terrific speed, also now looms as a genuine race threat.

And late in the day the veterans suddenly not only surfaced but roared into contention. Murphy and Russell Ingall showed they won't be upstaged by the younger upstarts come Sunday, or tomorrow for that matter.

Ingall was quick all day finishing in tenth while Murphy gets a top ten start tomorrow from ninth.

"It's nice to have made the shootout, but in all honesty, I always expected that we would make it," Murphy said. "We'll look at some changes, nothing major, but something that might help us qualify higher up the grid than where we were today."